Paragon Housing scam: LHC adjourns bail plea hearing till May 27
Last updated on: 20 May,2019 06:26 pm
On December 11, 2018, they were detained by the NAB after the LHC rejected their bail plea.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – The Lahore High Court on Monday took up a bail plea filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Khawaja Saad Rafique and his sibling Salman Rafique in the Paragon Housing Society case.
The defense counsel of the Khawaja brothers has pleaded with the court, in the appeal, to order their release from judicial custody as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore has failed to prove corruption charges against the brothers.
As the hearing commenced, the NAB prosecutor told the court that the Khawaja brothers had allotted same plots to many people.
To this, their defense counsel said all allotments were legal, and the profit generated [during the transactions] was also listed in tax returns with the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR).
The defense further argued that the Paragon Housing Society was not included in ‘benami’ properties, its master plan was not approved and a land of a village was included in the scheme.
Meanwhile, Justice Baqir Ali Najafi adjourned the hearing till May 27 for final arguments between the prosecutor and the defense.
Earlier on May 16, an accountability court in Lahore extended their judicial remand till May 30 in the same case in which the NAB has accused the Khawaja brothers of embezzling nearly Rs2 billion.
Moreover, the Khawaja brothers are also accused of embezzlement in the scheme by exchanging 50 kanals of their land for 20 two-kanal plots each owned by the Paragon City.
Earlier on April 26, the NAB Lahore approved the filing of a reference against the Khawaja brothers and Nadeem Zia for the alleged corruption in the same case.
Earlier on Feb 2, the court had rejected a request made by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for another extension in the physical remand of the Khawaja brothers in the case, and sent them on judicial remand.
On December 11, 2018, they were detained by the accountability watchdog after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected their bail plea.
The NAB had launched an investigation into the alleged scam in November last year after a number of victims staged protests and held a press conference at the Lahore Press Club against what they termed the housing society’s fraud.